Ide Nominari
Ide Nominari was an Emerald Magistrate of the Unicorn Clan. She was possessed by a shozai-gaki which had merged with Yugoro's spirit, a infamous bandit Lord, and Nominari became a flesh-eater bandit Lord herself. Early Years Nominari was the granddaughter of Ide Ashijun, a renowned magistrate who died while seeking the infamous bandit-Lord Yugoro. Way of the Thief, p. 52 Ashijun had chased this King of Bandits for years during the Clan War and even before. On the day of her gempukku Nominari was given a blade Way of the Thief, p. 49 retrieved from one of his grandfather's yoriki, the only survivor of Ashijun's last mission. The servant who returned the blade swore it was the one Ashijun wielded in his death. Way of the Thief, p. 60 Guidance Since Nominari took the blade, she realized it was a nemuranai. A voice from within claimed to be Ashijun's restless spirit, and guided the samurai-ko since to find the remnants of the former bandit-lord. Nominari began to suffer occasional headaches, and she had been blacked out for days or weeks if she did not find tracks of Yugoro. The blade's soul swore she would rest after Yugoro's Lair was found. Magistrate Nominari followed the family footsteps, as her father and grandfather before her had both been successful Emerald Magistrates. She went to the court of Yasuki Hachi where she proved herself to be a capable and studious magistrate. She was appointed to hunting down bandit gangs across Rokugan. In 1161 Nominari began a crusade against the remaining followers of Yugoro. Nominari had gained a flash of insight from the blade that identified a group of bandits she had encountered as descendants of Yugoro's Hordes. Way of the Thief, pp. 53-54 Yugoro's Lair In winter of 1162 Nominari found the cave on the northern side of the Spine of the World Mountains where Yugoro had had his hideout. For weeks, she had been experiencing horrible headaches and memory loss. The magistrate, her yoriki Ugure, and a slew of peasants were trapped in the mountain lair due to winter storms for over two weeks. Way of the Thief, pp. 49-50 The blade she carried was not her grandfather, Ashijun's, but the receptacle for the tortured soul of Yugoro himself and its spirit had taken hold of her mind. Way of the Thief, p. 54 Shozai-gaki Many years ago Ashijun also had found the lair of the bandit ronin, and had taken Yugoro's head in the cave. A powerful gaki that had been observing the greedy ronin for years took advantage of that moment and had opened a passage into Ningen-do from Gaki-do, the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. It had lifted up Yugoro's body and had feasted upon all but one of the remaining magistrates, including Ashijun himself. The powerful spirit had merged with Yugoro to become a shozai-gaki. After no more flesh was available than a lone yoriki, the gaki bound himself to one of the many swords that laid about in his stronghold and convinced Ashijun's yoriki to carry him from the area, the blade wielded by Nominari since her came of age. Possessed Nominari had been guided by the powerful spirit, which managed to convince the woman to bring it a feast of flesh. Yugoro convinced the gaki to allow him to take her over and return to the mortal world. A month after the winter snows melted, Nominari came out of the bandit lair alone and bloody. The shozai-gaki had taken control of her mind near permanently and forced her to feed from the flesh of her peasant servants. From here he would rebuild his vast network to feed the insatiable appetite of Gaki-do. Bandit Lord In 1165 Nominari had rebuilt Yugoro's Hordes, specifically the remnants of the Forest-Killers. She had taken the name Yugoro and passed herself off as a man as often as not. With Yugoro's spirit inside her she convinced dozens of lieutenants that she was the old bandit-lord reborn. Nominari was unable to get word out to anyone as to what had occurred and the new Bandit Lord operated in relative secrecy. Appearance Nominanari was a dour young woman with a dowdy appearance of that of a man her age. She had a taned skin, a wrinkled face, wispy hair, with searching eyes tinged with the taint of insanity Way of the Thief, p. 53 and a tattoo on her left cheek. Souls of Steel, Part 1, by Shawn Carman Death In 1167 her bandit gang theft the cargo of a kobune in the River of Gold. His captain Yoritomo Bunmei and Akasha hunted them down in the Shinomen Mori, killing her and several of her fellows. See also * Ide Nominari/Meta Category:Unicorn Clan Members Category:Bandits Category:Emerald Magistrates Category:Gaki-do